The Chelsea chairman, Bruce Buck, said: "I guess on behalf of Ron [Gourlay, chief executive], myself and Mr Abramovich, obviously we are disappointed but we recognise and respect that the shareholders have spoken.
"We will meet with Mr Abramovich and the rest of the board and decide what, if anything, we will do to take things forward. We are all Chelsea fans and I can only hope that, on Saturday, we all get together, support this club and beat the crap out of Arsenal."

As a dyed in the wool Spud, I would never concede that there was anything good about Arsenal. But their fortunes took a turn for the worse when they stopped having beautifully gorgeous players who, despite being Gooner filth, would've been great to wake up to after the works Xmas party...